“Is the LORD in our midst or not?”

In the first reading from Exodus, the Israelites are thirsty in the desert. Their suffering makes them doubt. They begin to complain and ask a painful question: “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” Even though they had seen God’s miracles before, their difficulties made them forget. Yet God does not abandon them. He tells Moses to strike the rock, and water flows for the people. God shows them that even when they doubt Him, He is still present. This same question can arise in our own lives. When we face difficulties, loneliness, sickness, or disappointment, we may quietly ask: “Is God really with me?” The Psalm today gives us the answer: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” God is always speaking and guiding us. The problem is not that God is absent, but that sometimes our hearts become closed. In the Gospel, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. She comes looking for ordinary water, but Jesus offers her living water—the water that truly satisfies the deepest thirst of the human heart. She had searched for happiness in many places, but nothing filled her emptiness. When she meets Jesus, everything changes. She realizes that God is truly present, right there with her. Saint Paul reminds us in the second reading from Romans that God has already proven His love for us. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” If God loves us this much, we can be sure that He has never left us. His love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The Samaritan woman leaves her water jar and runs to tell others about Jesus. She becomes a witness because she has discovered that God is truly in her midst. This is the message for us this Lent: God is not far away. He is here. He is with us in our struggles, in our thirst, and in our search. Jesus is the living water who satisfies our hearts. So instead of asking, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” let us open our hearts and recognize that He has always been there. And when we truly encounter Him, like the Samaritan woman, our lives will never be the same.